Great Metal Albums of 1978: Ted Nugent- Weekend Warriors

The media has made a lot about Ted Nugent’s politics recently and yes, he does love to slag off the president, but to me that doesn’t matter. I don’t agree with his politics and if he wants to be a spokesman for the NRA, then let him. None of this will stop him from listening to his music and reflecting on how he totally kicked ass when I saw him live twice back in the 80s. Furthermore, if I did lean more to the right in my political beliefs, I wouldn’t stop watching Morgan Freeman films just because he endorses Obama.

Enough of that, the 1978 “Weekend Warriors” album is one of the reasons why I like Ted Nugent so much. This was the first album to convince me that an album didn’t need a hit single to be good. The one single from this album, “Need You Bad” only got to 82 in the singles charts and I definitely don’t remember it being played on that little AM clock radio of mine. However, the entire album contains a steady stream of good songs which demonstrates Ted Nugent doing what he does best with a guitar. Every track does it for me here.

Track Listing:

1. Need You Bad

2. One Woman

3. I Got the Feelin’

4. Tightspots

5. Venom Soup

6. Smokescreen

7. Weekend Warriors

8. Cruisin’

9. Good Friends and a Bottle of Wine

10. Name Your Poison

Ted Nugent- guitars, lead vocals

Charlie Huhn- lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitar on “One Woman”

John Sauter- bass

Cliff Davies- drums, percussion, backing vocals

For me, Ted Nugent was heavy metal back in 1978. I was still riding on the wave of “Cat Scratch Fever” and this album just further cemented in my mind his place in metal. Memory flashback, I am now reminding myself of the time when Ted Nugent hosted the late night “Midnight Special” show on which was the first time I had encountered AC/DC as they were guests on it. In 1978, that would have been a magnificent concert.

“Weekend Warriors” is a fabulous selection from ’78, plus that album cover pretty much tells the story of how Ted Nugent likes his guns!

The U.S. constitution allows us the “right to bear arms”… so if the “bad guys” can have ’em, I have no problem with the “good guys” having guns (with legal permits) to protect themselves and hunt game. 🙂

Hey Stone,
I didn’t see it as being argumentative and it is sad that celebreties are being judged for their political beliefs. My father still will not watch a Jane Fonda movie, because of her stance on the Vietnam War. Although Ted Nugent does break the stereotype of rock stars being all liberals.

Weekend Warriors has always been one of my favourite Nugent albums, glad you liked it.